HiTech ERP  

Version:           <0.0>
Software Requirements Specification  Date:  <31/Mar/2011>
DRAFT – not to be circulated

Executive Summary
Improving business efficiency is a perennial concern for any company that hopes to achieve
“best-in-class” operations. Businesses that successfully improve efficiency stand to reduce
operating costs while improving the effectiveness and profitability of their operations. They
also gain time to devote to strategic planning. While many companies employ tailored
applications and manual business processes, best-in-class companies are more likely to fully
exploit ERP technology.
This describes how the HiTech ERP solutions can improve efficiency by:

● Standardizing and automating business processes, locally as well as across multiple

locations and countries to accelerate business operations.
● Offering a fully integrated suite of business management applications that share a
common dataset and extending these applications over the Internet, allowing
visibility and collaboration across departments, as well as with customers, partners,
suppliers, and remote users.
● Providing flexible and customizable reporting to improve business reporting, analysis,
and insight.
Best-in-Class Organizations Look to Enhance Efficiency
Companies that wish to operate in a “best-in-class” manner are continually on the lookout
for ways to improve the efficiency of their operations. By operating more efficiently,
companies have the opportunity to reduce operating costs while improving profitability.
They are also able to redeploy existing resources from time-consuming, manual
administrative tasks to strategic decision making and planning.
To achieve efficiency gains, “best-in-class” companies are turning to enterprise resource
planning (ERP) software solutions.
In contrast, average or laggard companies are more likely to use standalone applications to
manage operations, such as accounting and finances, customer relationships, payroll,
inventory, manufacturing, and distribution, and employ spreadsheets for operational and
financial planning. The use of these disparate applications makes it difficult and time
consuming for employees throughout the organization to obtain the information they need
in a format they can use. Employees find themselves rekeying information into multiple
systems or pulling information from multiple systems to create reports and analyze business
information for key business decisions.
How HiTech ERP Improves Efficiency
The HiTech ERP solutions improve efficiency by automating business processes, furnishing
integrated applications that share data to give employees instant access to the information
they need, and by providing business intelligence and analytics to improve decisions and
planning.
Standardized Processes Accelerate Operations
Manual processes can be tedious and time-consuming, and employees can easily miss vital
steps or provide customers with an inconsistent experience.

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 HiTech ERP  Version:           <0.0>
Software Requirements Specification  Date:  <31/Mar/2011>
DRAFT – not to be circulated

The HiTech ERP solutions standardize and accelerate processes through automation, which
ensures that processes are performed efficiently and correctly. Alerts warn managers of
exceptions so they can address any issues proactively.
HiTech ERP modules to automate processes that include:
● Accounting and finance
● Payroll
● Human Resources
● Sales
● Customer Resource Management
● Purchasing
● Inventory
● Manufacturing
● Distribution
Customizability Supports the Unique Way a Company Does Business
Even as they offer standardized processes, the HiTech ERP solutions offer the flexibility to
support the unique ways that companies and their employees work. IT departments can
take out-of-the box processes and configure them to address specific workflow
requirements. End users can personalize their own desktops, for example, by defining fields,
adding buttons, or removing data entry columns they never use to improve personal
efficiency. The HiTech ERP solutions allow companies to purchase only the modules they
need and then later add modules as necessary without extensive integration. Software
development kits (SDKs) are typically available along with networks of systems integrators
if more extensive customizations are required. If an organization upgrade to a newer
version, any modifications automatically migrate as well, eliminating the disruption of time-
consuming reconfiguration.
Automated Processes Span Multisite, Global, or Extended Operations
Many companies operate in multiple locations, have multiple divisions or branches, have
global offices, or even collaborate with an extended supply chain that includes customers,
partners, and suppliers. Not only the HiTech ERP solutions streamline processes and
improve collaboration within a single company in a single location, these solutions can do
the same for organizations with multiple locations, that operate in multiple countries, or that
collaborate across the extended supply chain.
The HiTech ERP solutions allow companies to customize processes to meet the needs of
individual operations in multiple companies, locations, or countries while at the same time
making it easier for multisite or global operations to consolidate and share information. The
HiTech ERP solutions are available that can support multiple languages, currencies,
companies, sites, and legislations to allow individual divisions or countries to follow their
own business rules while sharing common processes and information. Companies can easily
accommodate transactions that span multiple companies by using the HiTech ERP solutions
that automatically distribute transactions across two or more companies, reducing costs and
eliminating error-prone, time intensive processing. The HiTech ERP solutions can also
consolidate information from separate companies or global locations to enable companies to
cost effectively manage multiple companies and achieve comprehensive reporting on
multiple business entities.

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 HiTech ERP  Version:           <0.0>
Software Requirements Specification  Date:  <31/Mar/2011>
DRAFT – not to be circulated

Integrated Applications Enhance Visibility

When organizations use tailored applications, users must often retype information into
different applications or port data back and forth between systems to run their business. For
example, after a salesperson wins an order, employees in different departments might need
to enter that order into the sales system, the order entry system, the inventory system, and
the accounts payable system. Managers or executives must pull information from various
systems into a spreadsheet for analysis and decision making.
The HiTech ERP solutions store data from all modules in the same repository. Information is
entered once and automatically propagated in real time to all parts of the business that
need it. This eliminates time previously spent reentering data, improves accuracy, and helps
employees meet customer requirements more quickly. For example, the system will
automatically reflect a new order in stock levels, production, and accounting while
employees can check an order status or inventory levels without having to track down the
information from several people or departments.
The HiTech ERP systems can also manage electronic documents such as sales orders and
invoices, AR invoices, job cost invoices, purchase orders, payroll direct deposit stubs, and
electronic forms. Users save time and money by efficiently retrieving documents saved
electronically from their business desktop instead of manually searching for them. Electronic
document storage also reduces the possibility of loss or damage to valuable printed records,
including journals and registers, period-end reports, and all standard reports.
Role-based policies safeguard data so users can access the data they need in a secure yet
efficient manner. Audit trails allow organizations to easily track any changes made to the
system, when, and by whom, to ensure that users don’t make any changes for which they
are not authorized.
Reporting and Analytics Increase Insight
Rather than requiring managers or executives wishing to analyze data to find data stored in
multiple systems and import that data into a spreadsheet, the HiTech ERP solutions allow
users to analyze data from the repository using reports or standard queries.
Users employ drag-and-drop interfaces to personalize reports so they can work most
efficiently and can save these reports for their personal use or to share with other users.
Ad-hoc query capabilities give users immediate access to information to provide greater
business visibility and insight to improve business performance. Business intelligence and
analytic solutions provide portals or graphical interfaces to present key performance
indicators (KPIs) that make it quick and easy to identify unusual events that require
attention. Drill-down capabilities enable managers or executives to quickly see transaction
details to identify trends or the root cause of exceptions for more proactive business
decisions.
Flexible Technology Improves IT Efficiency
The HiTech ERP systems give IT organizations the flexibility to adapt the system to their
requirements. The HiTech ERP solutions that run on a standards-based architecture can
support multiple databases, operating systems, and hardware platforms. The architecture
makes it fast, efficient, and cost effective for IT organizations to deploy the ERP solutions
within their existing environments or modify their environments without extensive changes
and customizations, improving IT efficiency. Solutions that support standard IT tools for

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Software Requirements Specification  Date:  <31/Mar/2011>
DRAFT – not to be circulated

troubleshooting, optimization, backup, and restoration allow IT administrators to use their

familiar tools to safeguard the system and optimize its operation.
The HiTech ERP solutions that employ modern web-based architectures and web services
and support wireless and mobile wireless devices give organizations the option of further
improving efficiency by extending their internal systems to remote/mobile users, partners,
and suppliers. Users simply log onto the system using intelligent, self-service applications.

Cost Benefits
By replacing manual processes and tailored systems with the Hitech ERP solutions that span
multiple functional areas, locations, countries or across the extended supply chain,
organizations can achieve the following benefits:
Reduce Costs by Streamlining Operations
From a business perspective, the HiTech ERP solutions enable organizations to reduce costs
by automating workflows to streamline tasks and remove information-sharing bottlenecks
so employees can do their jobs in less time.
From an IT perspective, flexible, customizable HiTech ERP solutions reduce the total cost of
ownership by allowing companies to make changes without the need to modify the overall
system. With the HiTech ERP systems with modules that are integrated out of the box
avoids the time and cost of tedious point-to-point integrations. Moreover, with a single
integrated system, IT eliminates the need to manage multiple vendors or resellers.
Focus on Strategy to Drive Results
Using the HiTech ERP solutions, employees can also do their jobs more effectively. The
HiTech ERP makes it easier to document work steps and processes so people know how to
perform work on a consistent basis, when employees have easy access to documented
processes, production errors go down and quality goes up. Integrated, collaborative
planning processes enable more accurate plans and reduced budget cycle times. With more
visibility into production processes, management can quickly identify problems in the
business and take immediate corrective action. With more accurate data and better
decision-making tools of HiTech ERP solutions, companies can improve the quality of their
decisions, improving operational results. And finally, by reducing manual administrative
tasks through automated processes and providing faster, smarter access to personalized
information, companies can empower staff to focus on more strategic issues.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Best-in-class companies shall look to exploit the HiTech ERP solutions to improve their
operational efficiency to reduce costs, improve operational effectiveness to enhance
profitability, and make more resources available for strategic planning. By optimizing their
use of the HiTech ERP solutions, organizations have the opportunity to automate key
business processes for more consistent, streamlined operations. They can more effectively
share information across departments, locations, and even countries to eliminate duplicate
data entry and improve visibility. And they gain flexible tools to analyze operational data to
proactively manage business exceptions and improve strategic planning.

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